The European Parliament adopts the Regulation on cross-border parcel delivery

Today, the European Parliament adopted the final text for a regulation on cross-border parcel delivery. Extensive debate in the run-up to today‘s vote highlighted the central role played by parcel delivery for citizens, SMEs and e-merchants – and the essential contribution of European postal companies to e-commerce.

Parcel delivery is a fast-growing, dynamic and highly competitive market. In this environment, European national postal operators rely on innovation to meet customers’ demands – both nationally and throughout Europe.

We will be happy to continue the discussion on the future of the postal and parcels sectors. With more than 4 billion parcels handled throughout Europe every year, two million employees, 600,000 access points, 175,000 outlets, which all together account for 1 percent of the EU’s entire GDP, we’re proud to deliver for Europe.

Postal operators are constantly innovating to answer the demands of e-retailers and end-customers for fast, traceable and flexible parcel delivery.

Robotic Parcel Delivery

Deutsche Post has developed a self-propelled electric “PostBOT”, able to accompany mail deliverers on their routes and carry their mail items. It is being tested in the German town of Bad Hersfeld, and it may one day be deployed on a larger scale.

Smart letterboxes

Posti, the Finnish postal operator, in collaboration with the Finnish mobile network operator Telia, recently brought “Internet of Things” innovation to letterboxes. Its smart letterbox is able to monitor the movements of mail in real time, reporting, for instance, when mail has arrived and letterboxes can be emptied. This first-of-its-kind technology is currently being tested in Helsinki and Oulu (Finland), with the objective of turning the 5.000 Posti boxes into smart letterboxes.

Drone delivery for rural areas

Bringing parcels to remote rural areas can be a logistical challenge: this is why Spanish postal operator Correos started experimenting with drones in 2015. Its device can fly against strong winds, of up to 40km/h speed, to bring the parcel to its final destination.